In today’s competitive job market, recruiters want to know as much about you as possible before calling you for an interview or ultimately putting you in front of a company. Your resume only offers so much information, and depending on when they see it, it may be outdated. Today, it is important for your LinkedIn profile to offer the most detailed and up-to-date information about you! Jessica Recco, Field Social Media Specialist at Kforce, explains why updating these eight parts of your LinkedIn profile may help a recruiter find you.

1. Professional Headline

Who says your headline has to be plain? It’s okay to add some keywords and skill sets to your title, as long as they’re within reason. For example, if your title is a “Storage Solutions Architect” you can also add that you “Specialize in Enterprise SAN Solutions for Cloud Environments” all within your headline. Make sure to be specific, without flooding your headline with keywords. Your LinkedIn profile headline is like your business card explained in detail, let people know what you do!

2. Location

Location is one of the main components of a recruiter's search – make sure your location lists the most relative market or metro that you are associated with. For example, if you live in Reston in Northern Virginia, you would select “Washington D.C.” as it is the largest market in that area.

Depending on your zip code, LinkedIn may give you a few location options to choose from, being too specific limits the number of people in your network that can connect with you. If you are open to relocation, make sure to include this in your profile summary as well.

3. Job Title

Your LinkedIn profile is a substitute for your resume, hiring managers may even see it first – tell them exactly what they want to know. In your job title, list what your current title is as well as a description of what you specialize in if possible. If you are currently unemployed, include words like “seeking”, “open to”, or “looking” in your title as well. The more information you have, the easier it is for people to know what it is that you do.

4. Skills & Expertise

Add as many skills and expertise to your profile as you can, this allows your profile to be more searchable and shows your network the type of background and expertise that you have. Take advantage of LinkedIn’s new Skills & Expertisesection, which easily allows you to add your skill-sets while populating those that are similar. LinkedIn allows for 50 skills to be added to your profile, make sure to include as many as are relevant. Why? An even greater benefit is the Endorsement feature, which allows your connections to support those skills that you’ve listed.

5. Endorse Connections

Always endorse others in your network that you have worked with and can vouch for. The more you endorse others, the more likely it is that they will endorse you. The more endorsements you have, the better your profile looks to recruiters, especially if you are endorsed by senior-level professionals.

6. Recommendations

The old phrase “References available upon request” is no longer necessary for your resume. So why not showcase your references on LinkedIn? Asking for recommendations is a great way to let people see references first hand. Having current and former associates speaking highly of your work ethic and skills may help clear some of the doubt from a recruiter’s mind. If possible, aim for a minimum of 3 recommendations on your profile.

7. Turn Off Privacy

Whether you are actively looking for a new career or simply looking to grow your professional network, the last thing you want to do is set your profile to private (this includes blocking InMail). You joined the LinkedIn community to network; having a profile private may cause to you miss out on a great opportunity because nobody could reach you.

8. Activity Broadcast Settings

If you are unemployed and/or actively looking for a new opportunity, make sure to turn on your activity broadcast as this is your chance to get noticed. Every action you take, from updating your skills and experience to changing your job title will be shown as a status update on the home feed of your connections. You also want to make sure your broadcasts are on when you write a recommendation; this may spark someone with the idea to recommend you, too! Learn more about changing your LinkedIn activity update settings.

LinkedIn is currently rolling-out profile updates to all its members, so there is no time better than now to make sure yours is optimized in all the right places. Use the above tips to help ensure your online presence is the best representation of you!

About the author

Kforce is a professional staffing and solutions firm providing flexible and permanent placement services, as well as outsourcing solutions, in the skill areas of technology, finance & accounting, healthcare and government. Kforce operates in more than 60 offices throughout the United States and one in the Philippines.

Kforce is a professional staffing and solutions firm providing flexible and permanent placement solutions in the skill areas of technology, finance & accounting and healthcare. Kforce operates in more than 60 offices located throughout the United States and one office in the Philippines.

Knowledge Employed is a career advice blog and job tips resource center, created and managed by Kforce’s staffing specialists. Whether you are a professional needing career advice or a hiring authority seeking business guidance, our goal is to provide you with the knowledge and tools.